3.13.2008

Bio

Biography:Stephanie Kelly was born in Portland, Oregon. Her family later moved to a farm in the small town of Urbana, Missouri where she grew up. Stephanie comes from an Irish family of six, which consists of one brother, and two sisters, one of them being her twin. Stephanie has always had a passion for art and being creative in whatever life gives her. She has always been supported by great family and friends throughout all her creative endeavors. Even though she’s loved cultivating her hand at art during her high-school years, her passion for creating art really blossomed while attending Dixie State College in southern Utah 2006. She never really thought of pursuing art as something other than a simple hobby until she decided to take some painting classes from Dixie State College Instructor/Artist Del Parson. While studying under Del Parson, her skills in drawing and painting began to grow. Stephanie then decided to take her art education further, studying her undergrad in Painting and Drawing at the University of Utah; where she graduated Fall of 2011. In Stephanie’s experience at the University of Utah, she had learned by many of her instructors Artists’/Instructor’s John O’Connell and John Erickson in whom feels has really pushed her to grow creatively and conceptually in her work. While at the University of Utah’s Painting/Drawing program; Stephanie had explored many mediums and ways of creating art. It wasn't till she took a course from Artist/Instructor Sam Wilson who gave her the option to work with whatever medium she desired. That was when she discovered her love for working with embroidery, thread drawings (drawing with her sewing machine), and consciously employing both traditional and innovative techniques. From the beginning, the process of transforming string into art has struck her as magical. That magical process has had its way with her, leading her from hobby to fine art. Embroidery fills her with a sense of accomplishment and integrity, and has proven a most amenable means of expression for translating her inner visions to outer reality. Since then, most of Stephanie’s work consists of fiber art, mixing paint and thread on pattern fabrics. Stephanie loves the idea of painting with thread. Stephanie is currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah with her dearest husband/Sculptor Artist Robin Clark. She spends most of her time sewing, painting, and pursuing any avenue to exploring the creative processMy Artist Statement :I consider myself a painter and I paint with thread. The process of transforming string into art struck me as something visually stimulating with complex simplicity. Painting with thread is my way down the rabbit hole, my looking glass if you will. My background in painting has allowed me to explore the material using techniques that derive more from the worlds of drawing and painting, engaging both traditional and innovative techniques in employing formal qualities with density, texture and pattern. The embroidery floss is my paletteand the needle is my paintbrush. I create a method of embroidering the threads in an arrangement that would initially create value, color and depth and as I lay the colors down they instantly blend themselves. This process has had its way with me, leading me from hobby to art. My work is an ode and influenced by the worlds of tapestry and my love for craft. Using thread instead of oils has allowed me to bring new purpose to my painting process. Depending on what fabric I’m embroidering on, is compared to a certain kind of paint. When I embroider on canvas it feels like oils; it flows, it blends, and it’s rich. When I embroider on loose shear or silk, it’s like a watercolor; its delicate, the thread goes where it wants to go, and it moves with the fabric. My work blurs the lines between fine art and craft. I’d like to think I can reclaim the word “craft” which contains the idea of an unusual frame of knowledge and skill passed on from generation to generation. My art is what I make, my craft is the skills I have learned in order to make it brilliant. The use of craft such as embroidery fits my concept of domesticity, therefore my process and material becomes involved in the concept of my work. The idea of using embroidery permeates the feelings of my grandma’s home and the embroidery skills she has passed down to me. With that, I use embroidery to create the domestic feel to tell the story of life in the home and family.

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